Is it possible to get good at swimming late in life? Yes. (Photo: Shutterhack)
Swimming has always scared the hell out of me.
Despite national titles in other sports, I’ve always fought to keep afloat. This inability to swim well has always been one of my greatest insecurities and embarrassments.
I’ve tried to learn to swim almost a dozen times, and each time, my heart jumps to 180+ beats-per-minute after one or two pool lengths. It’s indescribably exhausting and unpleasant.
No more.
In the span of less than 10 days, I’ve gone from a 2-length (2 x 20 yards/18.39 meters) maximum to swimming more than 40 lengths per workout in sets of 2 and 4. Here’s how I did it after everything else failed, and how you can do the same…
At the end of January, a kiwi friend issued a New Year’s resolution challenge: he would go all of 2008 without coffee or stimulants if I trained and finished an open-water 1-kilometer race in 2008. I agreed.
He had grown up a competitive swimmer and convinced me that — unlike my other self-destructive habits masquerading as exercise (no-gi BJJ, etc.) — it was a life skill and a pleasure I needed to share with my future children. In other words: of all the potential skills you could learn, swimming was one of the most fundamental.
So why is this post only coming out now, eight months later? Because I tried everything, read the “best” books, and still failed.
Kick boards? Tried them. I barely moved at all and — as someone who is usually good at most sports — felt humiliated and left.
Hand paddles? Tried them. My shoulders will never forgive me. Isn’t swimming supposed to be low-impact? Strike two.
It continued for months until I was prepared to concede defeat. Then I met Chris Sacca, formerly of Google fame and now an investor and triathlete in training, at a BBQ and told him of my plight. Before I had a chance to finish, he cut me off:
“I have the answer to your prayers. It revolutionized how I swim.”
That got my attention.
The Method
He introduced me to Total Immersion (TI), a method usually associated with coach Terry Laughlin, and I immediately ordered the book and freestyle DVD.
In the first workout — I’ve never had a coach or supervision — I cut my drag and water resistance at least 50%, swimming more laps than ever before in my life. By the fourth workout, I had gone from 25+ strokes per 20-yard length to an average of 11 strokes per 20-yard length. Unbelievable.
In other words, I was covering more than twice the distance with the same number of strokes, with less than 1/2 the effort, and with no panic or stress. In fact, I felt better after leaving the pool than before getting in. I couldn’t — and still can’t — believe it.
Here are my notes from the Total Immersion book, which I would recommend reading after watching the Freestyle Made Easy DVD, as the drills are near-impossible to understand otherwise. I was actually unable to do the exercises from pages 110 – 150 (I cannot float horizontally and have a weak kick) and became frustrated until the DVD enabled me to attempt technique with propulsion. The theories and explanation after the DVD, however, will change how you view all of it:
My Top 8 Tips for Novices
Here are the principles that made the biggest difference for me:
1) To propel yourself forward with the least effort, focus on shoulder roll and keeping your body horizontal (least resistance), not pulling with your arms or kicking with your legs. This is counter-intuitive but important, as kicking harder is the most universal suggestion for fixing swimming issues.
2) Keep yourself horizontal by keeping your head in line with your spine — you should be looking straight down. Use the same head position as while walking and drive your arm underwater vs. swimming on the surface. See Shinji Takeuchi’s underwater shots at :49 seconds at and Natalie Coughlin’s explanation at :26 seconds. Notice how little Shinji uses his legs; the small flick serves only to help him turn his hips and drive his next arm forward. This is the technique that allows me to conserve so much energy.
A good demonstration of a TI crawl.
3. In line with the above video of Shinji, think of swimming freestyle as swimming on alternating sides, not on your stomach. From the TI Wikipedia page:
“Actively streamline” the body throughout the stroke cycle through a focus on rhythmically alternating “streamlined right side” and “streamlined left side” positions and consciously keeping the bodyline longer and sleeker than is typical for human swimmers.
For those who have rock climbed or done bouldering, it’s just like moving your hip closer to a wall to get more extension. To test this: stand chest to a wall and reach as high as you can with your right arm. Then turn your right hip so it’s touching the wall and reach again with your right arm: you’ll gain 3-6″. Lengthen your vessel and you travel further on each stroke. It adds up fast.
4. Penetrate the water with your fingers angled down and fully extend your arm well beneath your head. Extend it lower and further than you think you should. This downward water pressure on the arms will bring your legs up and decrease drag. It will almost feel like you’re swimming downhill. I highly recommend watching the “Hand Position and Your Balance” video at the top of this page here.
5. Focus on increasing stroke length (SL) instead of stroke rate (SR). Attempt to glide further on each downstroke and decrease the number of strokes per lap.
6. Forget about workouts and focus on “practice.” You are training your nervous system to perform counter-intuitive movements well, not training your aerobic system. If you feel strained, you’re not using the proper technique. Stop and review rather than persist through the pain and develop bad habits.
7. Stretch your extended arm and turn your body (not just head) to breathe. Some triathletes will even turn almost to their backs and face skyward to avoid short gasps and oxygen debt (tip from Dave Scott, 6-time Ironman world champion).
8. Experiment with hand swapping as a drill:
It’s difficult to remember all of the mechanical details while swimming. I short-circuited trying to follow half a dozen rules at once. The single drill that forced me to do most other things correctly is described on pg. 91-92 of the TI book: hand swapping. Coach Laughlin’s observations of the Russian Olympic team practice were a revelation to me.
This is the visualization I found most useful: focus on keeping your lead arm fully extended until your other arm comes over and penetrates the water around the extended arm’s forearm. This encourages you to swim on your sides, extends your stroke length, and forces you to engage in what is referred to as “front quadrant” swimming. All good things. This one exercise cut an additional 3-4 strokes off each lap of freestyle.
Gear and Getting Started
Ready to give it a shot? If you have a phobia of swimming or just want to feel the difference a few counter-intuitive techniques make, here are some starter tips:
1. Gents, don’t swim in board shorts. I tried this in Brazil and didn’t realize it’s like swimming with a parachute behind you. Terrible. Get some Euro-style Speedos and streamline. Be cool on the beach and opt for efficiency in the water.
2. Get good goggles. I am now using Speedo Vanquisher goggles, which I find effective if you use a latex swim cap to keep the straps in place. I need to tighten the nose bridge straps every 100-125 meters or so to prevent chlorinated water from blinding me, and leakage with all three goggles I tested seem to be due to eye pieces spread too far apart. I’ll be experimenting with the much-acclaimed Aqua Sphere Kaiman swim goggles, which are simple to adjust and tighten without removing them from your head.
3. Start practicing in a pool that is short and shallow. Use a lane in the shallow end (4 ft. or less) and opt for a pool that is no longer than 20 yards. I’ve since progressed to 25 yards but found focusing on technique easier with shorter pools. Since I’ve adapted to 25 yards, I plan to move to an Olympic-sized 50-meter pool once I can do 10 x 100 yards with 30-45 seconds of rest between sets.
To Finish Up…
I never ever thought I’d say this but: I love swimming.
This is RIDICULOUS, as I have always HATED swimming and avoided it. Now — after one book and DVD — I make time whenever possible to do laps like moving meditation.
I’ll swim for two hours and sneak out to get in an extra session a few hours later. I still can’t believe it.
I encourage all of you — whether you want to overcome your fears or win the Ironman — to give TI training a test drive. It’s the first instruction that’s made sense to me and is 100% responsible for the fastest transformative experience I’ve ever had in the world of sports. Just incredible.
Now, if I can just get from 100-yard sets to 1 kilometer 🙂
[Postscript: The creator of TI himself, Terry Laughlin, has left additional tips and observations in the comments.]
Comment Rules: Remember what Fonzie was like? Cool. That's how we're gonna be — cool. Critical is fine, but if you're rude, we'll delete your stuff. Please do not put your URL in the comment text and please use your PERSONAL name or initials and not your business name, as the latter comes off like spam. Have fun and thanks for adding to the conversation! (Thanks to Brian Oberkirch for the inspiration.)
Tim, I've been following you for years, I finally made time to follow your swimming advice. I went from being out of breath after 50m, to swimming a mile nonstop and only quitting because the pool was closing after a very short period of actual time in the pool. I've just registered for my first Ironman, something I hadn't dreamed of before just because of the swim. Thanks for all of the inspiration.
Hey! I've enjoyed reading this page on swimming. But I am struggling on breathing. I have Got a swim test in 2 days to be a apprenticeship lifegaurd and I have been swimming front crawl with my head down and my boyfriend has said I get quite far in a good time but i snuggle to complete a length cos my breathing us all wrong. Please help. It's hard aswell when I've Got shorts and tshirt on and can't wear goggles 🙁 but i had been practicing with goggles on and I'm really struggling. I have Got to swim 50 m in 60 seconds and then 100m continually and then tread water and rescue a manaquin from bottom of deap end (11ft) Help! Jess
Hi Tim, I really appreciate the way that you help break down the aspects of learning something as basic as swimming. Looking forward to trying it. I bought the e-book of "Four-Hour Chef" and it has been very useful. One question that I had for you(or anyone else you might know): I'm in the middle of an internship at a startup software company and I'm trying to learn Java- a programming language. Do you have any tips on how to deconstruct a programming language? I've tried asking this question of experienced programmers but all I get is head shaking and "That can't be done". Thanks again for all of the great work you've put out to help free folks from the grind (looking for an escape hatch already)- Will
I'm working with a TI coach for Triathalon training. I was having the typical problems with swimming (more training did not equal better performance)! Now, with TI, I find the philosophy (if you will) and technique to be elegantly simple. I'm also learning a bit about Chi running which along the same lines seems to think about what is a more "natural" way of running, keeping in mind our body in relationship to the surface and gravity etc. It seems that we need to pay attention to our physical nature, and what we're asking our bodies to do and perhaps to the basic physics of it all! It's really an eye opener!
I actually subconciously always had known it, but after reading 4HB I was strucked by the importance of progres measuring. So how do you think I can measure my progress in swimming during first weeks of TI programme. I am learning it mainly from movie "total immersion freestyle made easy". and now I am on Zipper Skate drill. Because of the focus on technique I don't think it's a good idea to track your time records for a given distance, strokes' counting also can be misleading due to possible differences in footwork?
Regarding goggles. I've been swimming for years and at first couldn't find goggles that would stay on and not fog. I finally came across Swedish goggles. They don't have foam or padding, it's plastic that fits kind of directly on your eye (as opposed to eyebrow/nose/temple.) The pressure of water basically keeps them on your head so you don't need the goggles to be strapped tightly. It's a preference thing, if you're not having any luck, worth a try http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swedish_goggles
Congratulations Tim on your achievement. I have taught a lot of adults to swim. I have had many men who were absolutely frightened of climbing into the pool and taking lessons. Swimming is a wonderful form of exercise for men. Learning to swim also build confidence.
Thank you for the great article. I taught myself to swim with TI a few years ago and really identified with your story. Now my wife (no competitive swimming experience) wants me to teach her and I'm going right back to the TI videos. By far the only way an adult should learn to swim, especially if they plan to teach themselves.
Tim on July 1st I set a new lap high of 37 laps with about 25-27 strokes per lap and a time of 75 -80 seconds for 50 yds. I read your TI and was so excited to use it on the 4th that I did not sleep right. Well I swam 72 minutes and calculated I swam around 2800 yds, wow was not tired but had to stop in mid pool cause my heart rate was a little too high. I did not feel tired, and am really looking forward to my next session. The only thing that bothered me was I was still around 25-27 strokes without much of a leg kick Mario
Forgot to tell you am 57 and started swimming in dec of 12 cause of meniscus surgery .I noticed my muscles in shoulders were sore cause of the different motion involved with TI
Great advice. I also have this book and am working on it. I should get the DVD though because the videos you have illustrate a bunch of the stuff I've been trying without it. Looking forward to getting more results the more I go. Like you, I've done a bunch of other sports and martial arts, but always avoided the water. Now I'm enjoying it more and more!
So, I can "somewhat swim"-if you consider underwater in only 3 or 4 feet of water swimming. I am petrified. But want to learn. Unfortunately, I can't quite comprehend anything you have mentioned above (but it seems like it makes sense). I need to start from scratch-and probably add hypnosis! I think swimming (at least when I tried above water) is completely dreadful! It took took much to keep myself afloat it seemed?? I couldn't understand how it could possibly be enjoyable if you were so spent afterwards! I prefer running over swimming-because….well…the air can't drown me….! My goal is to learn though, before my 2nd trip to Jamaica next year-so I can jump off the cliff at Rick's Cafe in Negril! I think once I have a few months or so of basic instruction, I will be able to use your post to my advantage. Thanks, guys!
Some interesting ideas, gonna try this out tonight. Thanks Tim!
Excelente! Creo que este artículo ilustra muy bien algunos puntos del Libro y del Video de TI. Las experiencias y consejos son muy lógicos y de muchísima utilidad. Gracias!
After first posting here in February this year – I am tomorrow morning knocking off the swim leg of a half ironman event in Shepparton, Australia. Go swimming downhill! 1900 metres here I come!
Hi…. It's helpful tips. I will try it. 🙂 Actually I have a problem with swim because when I finished swim, I always feel tired and my muscle is stiff. When I was in Senior High School, I joined the swim club. It's help me to improve my skill to swim. When I graduated from senior high school in 2012, I never go swimming. I am trying to swim recently, but my muscle is going stiff when I finished swimming. I asked my uncle who is a dive instructor that why I felt tired and my muscle is going stiff when I finished swim ? should I do workouts before swimming ? He said as same as the tips as above : "Forget about workouts and focus on “practice". He also said that if you are want to improve your swimming skill just a simple way to do that. You must focus, relax and enjoy to swim. The tips above are right. Thanks a lot.
I would call myself an avid distance swimmer and I think this article does a great job explaining technique. It is a pretty standard technique of swimming, but can be extremely difficult to explain and even more difficult to teach people who haven't been swimming their whole lives. It is great!
This is a very interesting article, although I remain doubtful. Beginning at the age of 50, I took swimming lessons for three years but never learned to swim. My teachers finally gave up on me, and then I gave up too. I would still like to learn to swim.
I am 65 and due to arthritis in my left foot have difficulty with the tread mill and elliptical. I hired a trainer to teach me to swim and he uses the TI technique. I love it. My only difficulty is the breathing. Once I figure that out the sky is the limit. I too can hardly wait each day to get in the pool.
I was planning to practice solo next week and I'm looking for guidelines how to start swimming. We had swimming lessons during High School and College years but I can't still grasp the essence of swimming and most of the time, leaving me frustrated. I am really planning to undergo swimming lessons again but I thought that this might be a waste of money. Good thing I stumbled to your blog, thanks to Google. It inspired me to check on Total Immersion and will use this for my self-study. I also wish I can learn how to tread ( I can float, but not treading…I'm sinking, boo). Well, one step a time. Thank you so much!
Try using a diving mask and snorkel when you start. I did this so I could concentrate on swimming rather than breathing first. Btw. If ever you get water in the snorkel a fast sharp puff of air will clear it. Practise this. Also find a mask that fits. Put it on without the strap, breathe in through you nose and if it stays on, it fits. Only silicon masks will do this. While swimming only breathe through your mouth ( ie. The snorkel). This technique means you can seperate the mechanics of swimming from the mechanics of breathing. Once you have mastered the body roll you can ditch the snorkel and move to breathing. Good luck.
Swimming is awesome! Really glad you overcame your fears and now you are a lover as well. I find the TI technique very intriguing. Will def have a look closer into it. Cheers, Julia 🙂
Thank you Tim for the wealth of information and pointers. I am in my sixties and now finding the pleasure of swimming. I should have drowned a while ago and was always short of breath just one to another. I never learned swimming properly. Now zumba put some renewed vigor and I have also learned to breathe better. I am able to swim with less effort. However I still need to pause for a minute at each end. Currently I do 15 laps. I want to do 50 laps with ease. I will re-read this, re-watch and apply some of these techniques. THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!
Hey Tim Great work. What your doing is helping a lot of people. So, bravo. I just have one question. It seems this information on swimming is for people who can at least swim a bit. How do you even float in the first place? Its a nightmare to try out TI, if your sinking with a belly full of water
haha this might actually help me. I've always had a weird problem with swimming where I can swim better if i'm completely under water (I can do entire lengths of an olympic pool under water), but if i try to swim across the surface i just feel like I'm spinning my wheels and going nowhere. I've always felt like I just didn't float enough to swim in that relaxed way everybody else seems to, but this technique has me thinking perhaps I don't need to. Don't spose there are any magic tips for treading water? Some people just seem to do nothing and float with their head fully out of the water. For me it feels like a hard workout where i'm having to tilt my head back to keep my mouth out the water.
Hi Tim, I've started recently to listen to your podcasts and received an email with this article about swimming. If i tell you that i got the DVD and watched several times for techniques, went to swimming and applied what Terry is saying, and WOW!!! i could not believe the results!!!! I've been swimming for like 20 years lets say, and in the recent years i've always felt that i'm missing something, i was not gliding in the water like professional swimmers do…i felt i always put way to much effort for the result i was getting. That turning of your body for full extension makes total sense now, and i did reduced it after one session from 20+ strokes to 11-12!!! Unbelievable!!! It makes sense when you think about it, because it acts like a screw in when you turn it in a whole… I Love it!!! Thanks again for everything, keep up the great job you are doing! You are truly an inspiration!!!
This was an awesome post. Following TI and with just a bit of extra researching online, I went from swimming less than 4 laps in my pool to easily swimming 70 in about a month and a half. I'm thrilled to do my first triathlon this summer and since I've learned the right way I actually LOVE swimming now. It's relaxing, NOT difficult and I'm so happy I tried this.
As an almost national swimmer, i recently managed 130 lengths of crawl non-stop, awesome tips though and a beautiful stroke
This is absolutely the best sporting advice I've ever come across. The feeling of gliding through the water is insane! Thanks Tim, keep up your great work!
Hi Judy here from Melbourne, Great tips for free style. Whilst being a swimmer all my life I could never “get” the freestyle. Your tips have enhanced me and now I am flying – whoo whoo. I used to try to snatch tips from the pool’s girl team but didn’t get any better. Thanks so much, I love my swimming (even though it’s a buggar on the long hair!!!) Jude
Inspiring. But I can only doggie paddle about 20 feet I can't actually swim with my face in the water. Any idea how to get past that?
This is such a great article and a good read indeed. I know how to swim yet I never knew that there are essential steps that will enable us to swim efficiently and safely. I will definitely try these crucial steps at home so that I'll be able to become a great swimmer. I will definitely encourage my friends as well to read this amazing article. 🙂
It took me 3 days to learn how to swim and now I'm easily doing 25m lengths like it's no big deal.
Thank your post. I have been wanting to do triathlons for a long time but I have avoided swimming out of fear. I have been having problems with the breathing portion and I panic when I feel I can't catch enough air. I know I have a long way to go but reading and seeing these clips you posted helped understand better what I need to do to master just learning to swim properly. I will definitely be trying these skills today.
Keeping your head looking straight down at the bottom is ridiculous. Otherwise I don't understand how anyone could consider TI groundbreaking. It's just a way to sell you swimming lessons, but you would be better off with an attentive coach.
Thanks for sharing this with such a wide audience. There are so many unnecessary water-related deaths each year. Posts like this give people the confidence to get out there and learn to love the water!
Read this blog post, went on Amazon and purchased the DVD. Went from 1 x 25 meters to 22 x 25 meters (without stopping) in about 5 swim sessions! Brilliant! Thanks Tim! Sam P.S. My aim is 60 lengths without stopping (a swimmers mile)
I seriously wanna learn how to swim. I will have a look at this info. Thanks for that.
Tim, The Vanquisher goggles come with multiple nose pieces. It sound like you need a smaller one. Switching should eliminate the need to pinch your nose piece every few laps. -Father of Four Competetive Swimmers (Goggles are the #1 time waster/procrastination aid for swimmers of all ages and abilities.)
Hi there, This is so inspiring. I'm forwarding to a few friends. Congratulations on finding a new love for swimming! I felt the same way when I was learning to scuba dive (before I even learned to swim more than a doggy paddle). Eventually, I found a way to be brave, but your story is so much more inspiring. I also love the advice you give on gear and practicing in the right pool. I work for a small family owned and operated swim gear company and would love a gear review from you, if you're interested. Gear would be free, but we would want your honest opinion! Please let me know if you're interested. Congrats on facing a fear and conquering it! – Michelle
I am 75 years old and I had lung cancer 10 years ago and had a full resection of my right lung leaving me with two good lobes on my left side. I am in relatively good shape and told by Dr that my lungs have expanded to where I have about 60 to 70% capacity of a normal person. I have a spin bike and I spend 30 minutes 3 times a week and get my heart rate up to 90-95 percent. My problem is that for the last 3 weeks I've been trying to swim and while I've gotten better at it I still get out of breath even after one lap and I have to take a break between each lap. Has anyone with this lower lung capacity been able to use this system.
Great post, Tim. You've inspired a fellow stone to learn to swim.
This is interesting. I am taking swimming lessons, so I'll definitely try this out.
Thank you, Tim Ferriss for this article. I have no idea who you are, but I came upon this article while googling trying to find a way to learn to swim at 48, since I signed up for a triathlon that was coming in a month. A month ago, I couldn't even swim a lap without being completely out of breath and feeling like I'm going to drown. Two nights ago, I swam a quarter of a mile nonstop. All because I followed all your tips. You taught me how to swim. Thank you. Today, I am challenging myself to the very first triathlon and I am excited. I will bring your tips with me…long lead arm, swim downhill, stroke length, not stroke rates. 😊
Amazing advice got the book ordered can't wait watched all the vids helping me a lot thanks I've done now 11 strokes 25 metres amazing feeling when accomplish what you dream of doing massive influence from 22 to 11 🏊🏼👌🤗
I just taught myself to swim in an hour, using your method. I'm staying at a country-house hotel for a week's holiday, and my wife and six year old daughter are using the indoor pool everyday. I get in the water too, but can't swim. I thought I've got to learn, as I'm missing out. I managed to float on my back by lying completely horizontal and kicking my legs gently. I thought that swimming on my front can't be much different. I searched the internet for "how to teach yourself to swim" and this website came up. I read your article last night and watched some of the videos. This afternoon, I put on some goggles, got into the pool and pushed out completely horizontal face down. I followed the advice here, and was amazed how easy it was. Reach long with my arms and stay calm, don't kick too much with my legs, focus on being streamlined, and turn my body so that I swim on my side as I reach forward. I've got to improve my breathing technique, as I'm nervous about trying to draw in air when my mouth is so close to the water, but this will come with more experience. I must remember to exhale when my head is down, and then inhale every few strokes as I roll my head. It's only been an hour, after all; so I can't expect to be completely perfect first time out !!
Tim, Thanks for sharing this method and your experience. Would you or my fellow readers of your blog recommend this for a new swimmer too. For future visitors, Terry Laughlin's free pdf introduction is now at http://www.totalimmersion.net/images/pdfs/easy-freestyle-manual.pdf Ac
THANK YOU Tim! I've ordered the book and DVD and will implement your notes today or tomorrow when I get to Gold's gym pool again. I like swimming but it has always been a struggle – I look forward to making it a JOY. Rock on – thanks for all you do! Bea Hooper
Green swimming pool everybody like.It is also my dream.I agree with your tips about soft water swimming pool.I have all your post list,Thanks for this post. [Moderator: Link removed]
I was just listening to your podcast today and then popped over to your blog and saw your post about Total Immersion. I also took it and it was AMAZING for my swimming. We are fortunate to have a master coach Shane Eversfield live in our town and teach sessions all the time. [Moderator: link removed]
Thanks for helping me to learn how to swim. At 25 years old I never swam laps, only lounged in pools. Realizing that I couldn't actually swim, i began researching how to do so, and I found this. After about 8-12 hours in the pool i was able to swim for about 20-30 minutes straight.
I often use Allavsoft to download Adult Swim video to MP4, WMV, AVI, FLV, MOV, etc on Mac and Windows.
I have been learning to swim for last 6 months.still at the pool side practicing kicking motion and where tried putting the stuff taught by the swim teacher I topple n reach to pool side.when I am trying to swim I foret the steps n start doing my own stuff quickly n start to drown.i feel swimming is not for me.
Tim when you said that you would be out of breath and your heart would be racing, I totally felt your pain. So today after reading your blog and watching your linked videos, I gave your tips a try. Oh my God! What a difference. All I did today was keep my face looking straight down, kicked less and brought my arms in more at a 45 degree angle rather than big swings and extend in front of my head and I suddenly was not as exhausted after every lap. I used to have to use the elementary back stroke after every free style lap to catch my breath, but I was able to knock out seventeen laps, with two back stroke laps today. I still paused a moment between each lap, but not gasping like I used to. Again this was only my first day, so my new techniques all had bad form and I had to keep reminding myself what to do – but wow with a little more practice, I can only imagine the progress I will make. Thank you so much for the tips!
I love all the tips maybe tomorrow I won't have to fight for air at the wall… you said try to get to 1 km and I swim 2 km a day for 4 days and I have very good coaches that helped me achieve my goals in swimming… I am definately trying out those techniques thx… do you have anything for butterfly, back and breast if so plz tell me I am lacking talent on them
Total Immersion works! I read Tim's article in January of 2016 when I could not even swim a lap. Ever since, I've been diligently practicing Total Immersion techniques twice or three times a week. Yesterday, after a little over a year, I swam 500 meters in 9 minutes (took me almost 15 min a year ago) and finished 40th among 220 coed swimmers in a Sprint triathlon race. I'm signed up for a half iron man this summer and am confident I will do it. Fyi, I'm almost 50. So awesome!
I have swum my whole life and live on an island in a warm climate. I swam competitively as a kid but I don't remember ever having a technical swim lesson. Lately I have been super inspired by my ability to uplevel and I have been swimming three times a week for an hour in the open water, it has been hard going and I had been alternating between 100 freestyle strokes and 20 breaststroke to recover. Last night I watched some of the video from Tim's blog and decided to dive in this morning and give the TI technique a go, maybe it might improve my swimming or give me something to work on. The first thing I tried was to change the entry point of my hands and to push them down and forward deeper and with more reach, I was moving much quicker than usual covering the first few 100 yards relatively quickly. Next I worked on my body roll and relying less on a kick. I noticed that there was a significant discrepancy between my right and left arm entry point and reach. I corrected this by practicing the left arm entry and push and instead of only letting my body turn to the right for breath I let myself see the ocean on either side clearly from my body roll. I added a flick kick in the middle of the body roll, which seemed natural and easy and finally began to use the side of my head, top of my ear deeper into the water at the top of the roll on either side which caused the speed and efficacy to increase without any tiredness. Amazing! To top it all off I swam at least 1 km easily without pause, total freestyle! Came out of the water toying with the idea of joining an open water race this November in Barbados. http://www.swimbarbadosvacations.com/swimmer-details.html. Crazy thinking, but I just might do it….
Total Immersion can be a good system for people to improve their swimming abilities with. I find the title of the post here to be slightly misleading because Tim can make it to the other side and back. I work at a local pool where my students sometimes even struggle with anxiety that can be so severe that they can't even put their heads underwater. It's unfortunate, because they are the ones that have the hardest time finding useful advice to help themselves. If you are struggling with any kind of anxiety in the water, the Total Immersion Method will cause you to fall flat because you are missing the ability to remain calm and relaxed while you are swimming. Before you try TI, build up some comfortability in the pool. Make sure you can dunk your head underwater comfortably for at least 10 seconds. Make sure you feel relaxed with your eyes closed underwater. Try different things to help build up some confidence in the water before you get all fancy with the drills. Good luck you guys [Moderator: link removed.]
As someone who has taught swimming for half a decade this is good, and bad. Let me explain it is all about the aquatics Dynamics of your movement. The way the method explained it, it really got about halfway there. For most people this may be alright, but I makes me cringe anytime I see it. The biggest thing is the wrist, If it is loose you lose. You waste energy when you let it drag. It should stay locked, out of everything that is the only thing I will drone about. Just keep in mind swimming is exercise, low impact? Not really. Lesser impact? Sure. Easy? Even for runners, sprinters, or bikers? Hell no. It's completely different, always keep that in mind.
Excellent tips, Tim, indeed…. I'd like to share with you that I learned to swim when I was 46 years old, after a very long period of time living with fear to water…. But, once I drank several gallons of water during my first classes learning the basics, I couldn't stop myself of trying more and more distance… Now, each time I find a good water place (beach, rivers, lakes, interesting pools, even underground flows, I spend minutes, hours, swimming and enjoying those delicious flavors…. These tips are really excellent, so be sure I'll apply them immediately, to improve my own technique,…! =)
thanks for the information how to swim that way!
This first video is amazing. I'm going to order the book right now. Discovering your blog has been inspirational as my goal has been to find amazing routines from others and replicate it. Thanks for what you do!
I have been an avid swimmer since the early nineties. I bought Terry Laughlin's book and followed the principles within, it is a landmark book! I would like to draw your attention to one problem that may crop up while attempting to follow Terry's advice. There is a tendency to over-reach on the free-style catch and that can lead to shoulder problems. For me part of the over-reaching included keeping my hand too close to the surface of the water when I started my catch. I corrected it this way. I stood with my back touching a wall and raised my arms above my head. The point at which my arms wouldn't go any farther with out increased effort is the same angle i keep my catch at when i am swimming. My shoulder problems stopped soon after I started the deeper catch. Clearly my shoulders need to be more flexible but sometimes the ideal stroke for you is not the ideal stroke that Terry (or anyone else) says.
Wow…good
Really interesting. I’ve pondered about total immersion and think it’s time to check it out. Thanks!
We might never swim fast and gracefully like those guys and girls in the Olympics, but everybody can and must learn to float and move in the water. Moving or even just being in water is one of the most natural, low impact exercises and should be considered as fundamental in our physical development. Also think about this – being in water might be our last resort and option to exercise when we get older or suffer from injuries. I think that learning to swim is one of the best investments in our health. Swimming is for the body what meditation is for the mind. Did you know that you can actually meditate while swimming? Thank You for the continues inspiration and great content!
I enjoyed swimming my entire life. I have never been able to do the butterfly stroke, but now I am planning to give it a try…
Looking forward to trying it out. Loved Diana Nyad's book find a way. Really makes me glad there aren't Jellyfish in the pool. Also enjoyed Marcia Cleveland's book Dover Solo. Let me know if you ever need a good person to interview on learning golf. Ollen Stephens, PGA Master Professional (Teaching & Coaching) can help.
I know this is old but maybe still get a reply. Recently took a adult class for swimming. I just turned 40 in good shape and ultimately wanted to conquer a goal of swimming I never learned. I have improved a lot in the 10 week course but when swimming I just get burned out very quickly. Which being in good shape has frustrated me. I ask my instructor why this is? I can run 5k /10knraces no problem at all do free weights take fitness classes no issues keeping up. I get in the pool and old ladies lap me. Of course being new this was my instructors reason. Anyways came across TI Swimming and it made perfect sense to me. But what I do not understand if you just learning wouldn’t it be best to learn a correct energy saving form vs a energy sucking form? Why has this style not gone more main stream virtually no instructors no anything about it? My goal is to one day compete in a iron man but the rate I’m going now just seems near impossible with my swimming just pathetic. Did you learn TI completely by yourself I see many drills require a second person. I wish I could find someone locally to help me out but does not look like any TI instructors are in my area.
Hey, had to say thanks- The other day I listened to a talk you gave to The Long Now foundation (that I had downloaded a few years ago) and heard you talk about Total Immersion- Ive had a terrible time with the swimming forever- I currently live in a small mexican tourist town on the pacific, and with only 2 months left, I`d determined to get the most of it by getting over my fear of the water and swimming everyday, to enjoy the ocean as much as possible before not seeing it for a while. So I`ve been swimming at least once a day for the past few weeks, noticing large improvements in strength. But today, I spent ten minutes looking at the advice from total immersion, and this afternoon my session was completely different. Comparatively it couldnt be called swimming what I was doing before- fighting the water, struggling and using such a massive amount of effort. And that`s all said with me being in excellent shape, -working on the one armed handstand now for some idea- Today I swam easily four times as far with far far less effort and way more enjoyment. Thanks a ton for putting this information out there. Changed my life for sure.
Dear Tim, It's a really amazing method and that too in a short time. I've been trying to swim for a long time but I couldn't. I hope this method works for me.
Tim, In light of the news about Naya Rivera, I wanted to finally thank you for introducing me to total immersion swimming. First of all, I have no idea what type of swimmer Ms Rivera was and I am not suggesting at all that she did anything wrong. Quite the contrary. She is a hero to her child. It is just that stories of water tragedies have always haunted me. Terry Laughlin (through you and through one of his instructors, John Fitzpatrick) change that and changed my life. Despite the best efforts of my parents and growing up on the coast of Maine, I was never a competent swimmer into adulthood. I struggled with fear every time I entered the water. This meant constant anxiety around water vacations that should have been incredible. This fear came to a head while celebrating my wife's 40th on Anguilla. My fin got stuck in a reef and I panicked. On her birthday, my wife had to save her husband. I knew I had to really learn to swim. I found your advice and followed it. It lead me to John Fitzpatrick in Chicago who took me on a journey where I can now easily swim a mile or more at any time. More importantly, I don’t have the sense of dread or fear when I encounter the water. As you point out, learning as an adult is not as easy. Even John was confused by my questions as many things that are intuitive when you learn as a kid, you must consciously think about as an adult. I provide a few examples below to add to your learnings. I hope you reprise your swimming discussion as I think it would be helpful to people. Here are a few things I learned as an adult. 1. Master the Elementary Back Stroke. Learning to tread water is actually pretty hard and can sap energy when your technique is poor. The key is to get on your back and allow yourself to relax and breath. And once you do, try the elementary style with a very light kick and without ever having your arms leave the water. https://www.enjoy-swimming.com/elementary-backstroke.html. It will give you freedom in the water even before you learn more powerful strokes. And it will gift you precious time if you ever find yourself far away from safety. 2. Understand that swimming is a “breath out” sport. Focus on the out breath and the in-breath will happen automatically. The day this finally kicked in for me, my life changed. The reason you are out of breath is not that you are tired. You aren’t taking enough air in which means that you didn’t get enough air out. And it take a lot of force to get the air out. I also recommend starting by breathing out through your nose and in through your mouth to avoid mental confusion. You need practice the effort it takes to push are out. You can do this standing in a pool or in the bathtub. Stand in a 3 foot pool, bend at the waist and try freestyle with your arms only. You look silly, but you will master what it takes to breath without the fear of sinking. 3. Expel everything underwater. If you take in water, throwup, sneeze, or do anything else that blocks your airways, push is out underwater. You need the breathing cycle to take in water. If you push it out as the natural part of your out breath, you avoid panic or stopping your flow. 4. Freestyle (which you ultimately need to learn) is is all about balance, length and body rotation. Kicking actually burns a ton of energy. If you are trying to survive, focus on learning the total immersion drills around balance are very helpful. I do them all every time i swim as a wam up.
Thanks. I'm very interested in TI now. You described so many of my feelings of frustration, embarrassment and a little panic that jumps up and makes me stop at random while swimming, or trying to. Off to buy a DVD and a book. Cheers.
Wow such incredible information! The tips for beginners you write is basically the equivalent of taking swimming lessons they were so detailed! All you need is to find a pool and put them to practice. Just make sure the pool cleaning service responsible for the local or recreation pool knows what they are doing. A lot of companies cut corners. Swimming is a great activity because is can give exercise and socialization – two components to happiness and wellness. This was a great article and a good read. Congrats on your success and I hope you keep writing and hit that 1K swimming target!
Thank you for the help. I bought a copy of TI and watch some of the videos. I have never been a swimmer…never been in the water until I was 71. I am in fairly good shape; i run five miles every day. Learning to swim has been an unbelievable challenge. Your help along with TI has been excellent. Vic Bledsoe
I swim a mile and a half everyday the last 3 months and I’m down 80lbs
Thanks Tim, this has been a game changer for me. Three months ago, I had to catch my breath after swimming 2 lengths. Now I do three 30-minute swims per week and consistently manage to swim further with less effort. I'm at 2:10 per 100m for my 30-minute sessions and my watch categorises the workouts as "recovery effort". Getting there.
Hey Mario Don't sweat the small stuff! I started swimming last year for the 1st time at age 34 and did my first 70.3 Ironman in Jan this year in South Africa. Had the same problem as you with my shoulders (deltoids to be exact). Fixed it by following TI program to a t. You need to just relax and submit to the water. There's no point in trying your damnest to propel forward. Just become one with the water and enjoy it!
I am replying to myself here – but hey! Yesterday in shepparton 1900m in the lake (brown water only visibility when breathing of looking forward) 118 other team starters in the wave (I think that's what I heard) and 41.5 minutes to the transition area! Thanks Tim for this post, thanks TI! Great stuff over the last 8 months.
I use to swim like a stone and then found this post and now I too can swim endlessly , actually I get bored before I get tired. The secret I found is to relax and follow the training techniques that Terry L discusses on his web site I start every swim with a couple of laps doing a Super Man glide just to un wind and relax I do get a few strange looks but it helps alot
Oh and i had to stop due to cramp, not fatigue -.- annoyed the hell out of me
Are you simply unable to float at all or have never tried, almost no one is able to float completely horizontally. Most people can only float with the tip of their heads above the water, but you can make yourself sink by letting all the air out.
Hi Peter, the issue that you speak of "overreaching" is not one that we teach at TI because we very much emphasize a steeper angle of extension PRIOR to the 'catch' but thank you for the opportunity to clarify. We teach swimmers to enter the hand on the tracks at a steep enough angle that when they rotate and extend to full extension of the lead arm, that hand should already be deep enough to go into the 'catch' at an angle that is both healthy for the shoulder as well as in an effective position for leverage. We never teach people to extend the hand straight in front of the shoulder which does indeed lead to a 'catch' that would be at a disadvantageous angle for both shoulder health and for proper leverage. Thanks for your comment! – Fiona Laughlin (Terry's daughter and TI Coach)
Hi Dustin, We don't teach people to drag their wrists when swimming whole stroke. What we teach is for the hand to be relaxed during the recovery, then to use the hand to pierce the water on the entry and extension and to then shape the entire length of the arm from fingertips to shoulder in the most effective position to create a holistically connected leveraging action. We never teach having a disconnected hand as you seem to have perceived it. Rather, to not have a hand that is excessively tensed in such a way that it does nothing to contribute to propulsion. Having taught adult swimmers TI for 30 years I can say unequivocally that the average adult beginner swimmers holds an excess of tension in the body and in particular the hand and fingertips that is not only unnecessary but counterproductive to forward movement. That is not to say that we teach total relaxation to the point of shapelessness. There is a vast gap between excessive tension and excessive relaxation and the general adult swimmers errs on the side of excessive tension which is why we focus on relaxation. If they erred on the side of excessive relaxation to the point where they held no proper alignment or leverage, we would focus more on tension, but thats patently not the case. Thanks! – Fiona Laughlin (Terry's daughter and 30 year TI coach)
Hi there, We definitely address anxiety and comfort issues prior to getting into any propulsion. One of the things my dad really focused on in his last book was the issues of swimmer comfort and how that needs to be addressed before anything else so that the swimmer is not operating in survival mode. This is why balance and relaxation are the keystones above all else. Thank you for the opportunity to clarify! – Fiona Laughlin (Terry's daughter and TI coach)
Shane is awesome! He also teaches at our home swim studio! – Fiona Laughlin (Terry's daughter)
I do a lot of the teacher training of TI coaches and one of the things we require of our teachers is that they teach from in the pool, hands-on, right next to the swimmer so that they can make immediate, gentle corrections and give immediate feedback. Doesn't get more attentive than that! As far as looking straight down being 'ridiculous', it would indeed be better for visibility to look forward, the problem with that is that it breaks the head-spine alignment and causes the lower body to sag and sink so its really not possible to optimize body position without looking down. Having said that, people often misinterpret this and end up pushing their head too low in the water, so for the sake of clarity I'll say that although the face should be looking down, the alignment of the back of the head should stay level, not pushed under the surface. So basically its a neutral head position (in line with the spine) not a low head position. Same as you would hold your head whilst walking and looking slightly down at the ground.
Hello Chris, Thank you taking the time to post. As a TI Coach and Terry Laughlin’s daughter, I appreciate what Tim has done so much. His support of TI allows us to reach an even wider audience and help more people. The reason TI is not as well known as it should be is a complicated answer. In short, Terry revolutionized swim instruction from a teaching/coaching perspective, but the focus has always been on content, rather than a business structure. Terry was first and foremost a teacher who cared about students, rather than a marketing whiz or a business guru. Pure of focus, he truly never gave much thought to the money. His purity of motive is part of why he was so beloved in life (he passed in Oct 2017), as no one could ever say he was solely in it for fame or riches. He loved and lived his work, and his life was one of service. That said, we are entering a new phase of TI where we are attempting to broaden our reach and therefore bring the gift of smooth, fluid swimming to greater numbers of people. It has been so incredible to have savvy and influential supporters like Tim to allow that to be possible, and we are trying to glean wisdom from those in the business community who have the skills to help us reach more people. We know a lot about swimming, but we are striving to understand more about business, so that we can hopefully one day have TI coaches in every town. This was always Terry’s dream, and we will do our best to make that dream a reality so that people understand how wonderful swimming can really feel. Thank you Tim, and thanks to all who took the time to comment. If you can come to New Paltz, NY (90 min bus ride from NYC) you could book a class with myself or another member of our staff. We would be honored to have you come.
I’m so happy for you, Noah. Feedback like yours motivates us every day to keep doing this work. Each one teach one. You now have skills you can share with another. I say this to my swimmers all the time, and I mean it. You don’t need tears of coaching experience to be helpful, in fact you will be MUCH more helpful than an “expert” who has the wrong type of experience (a coach who promotes what we call conventional kick-and-pull instruction). Have fun and stick with it-you will be amazed at how much you will continue to improve. Happy Laps! Betsy Laughlin (TI Coach and Terry Laughlin’s daughter)
Oh, and to be clear, your problems are 1000% technique issues, so any nonsense you hear about needing some special swim conditioning is exactly that-nonsense. I have no doubt that feedback is well intentioned, but it could not be more wrong. As you say yourself, you watch less fit persons swim distances that currently seem impossible, so I suspect you already know this. We can help you, I promise. Start with some self teaching materials (there is a free YouTube channel called TI Swim), and see how you fare. Some, like many posters here, find they get satisfactory results on their own. But stay optimistic-you are nowhere near your potential yet, and I assure you that your potential is vast!